The Time Is Now: Equal Obedience

October 18th, 2026 | Seventh Day Adventist · Commitment Sunday

Big Idea: Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

Story:Advance Commitment Night

Intro:

Five weeks ago we started this journey together, and before we go any further today, I want to take one minute and remember where we've been. Because that's how this whole series started. Psalm 78. Remember what God has done, and make sure the next generation knows about it.

Week one, we said The Time Is Now isn't ultimately about a building. It's about a generation.

Week two, we prayed the prayer of Jabez. God, bless us. Enlarge our territory. Let Your hand be with us.

Week three, we stood under a sycamore tree and heard Jesus say to Zacchaeus, “Come down.” Jesus wants your whole heart. Money included.

Week four, Jess put us in the boat with Peter. “Master, we worked hard all night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so.”

And today is the day we say it together. If You say so.

You've seen the card on your seat. At the end of the service the band is going to play, and we're going to come forward and set those cards in the baskets together.

And I want you to notice something. There's no number on the screen today. That's on purpose. Today isn't about how much.

Today is about how many.

Our prayer is 100% participation. Every person and every family who calls Pinewood home, saying yes to God at the same time.

Because the miracle we're praying for isn't only a building. It's a church that moves together.

There's a moment near the very end of David's life that looks a lot like this morning. A king. A house for God he would never get to stand in. And a whole room full of people deciding what they were going to do.

If you would, stand to your feet in honor of God's Word.

Passage: 1 Chronicles 29:5–9

“Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?” Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly. For the service of God's house they gave 185 tons of gold and 10,000 gold coins, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 4,000 tons of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the LORD's house under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders' willingness to give, for they had given to the LORD wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.”

Pray: Lord, we're Yours. Every one of us. Speak to us, and give us the courage to answer You together. Amen. You may be seated.

Now I told you there would be no numbers today. Apparently David did not get the memo. 185 tons of gold. Somebody's sitting there going, “Pastor, is that a hint?” It is not a hint. Put your pen down.

Background:

For most of his life, David wanted to build a house for God. He had the dream. He had the resources. And God told him no. In 1 Chronicles 28, David tells the people that God said, “You are not to build a house for my name,” and that his son Solomon would build it instead.

So what does David do with a no? He spends the last season of his life getting everything ready for a house he will never stand in. He gathers the materials. He gives out of his own personal treasure. And then he gathers all the people.

Chapter 29 is one of the last scenes of David's life. By the end of the chapter, he dies. And his last big public moment isn't a battle. It's a room full of people giving to God, and a king praying over them.

Now let me be careful with the Word. Pinewood is not the temple. The temple was a unique place where God put His name among Israel. Today we meet God through Jesus, and the church is not a building. It's people. So this passage is not a promise about our building.

But it does show us what God's people look like when they give together. And I think it shows us what this morning can look like.

Title: Today I want to preach to you from this thought: Equal Obedience.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

1. OFFER YOURSELF FIRST

Look at verse 5 again. “Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”

David has just listed everything he's giving. Gold. Silver. All of it. And you'd expect the next line to be, “So who's going to match me?” But that's not the question. He doesn't ask, “Who will give gold?” He asks, “Who will consecrate himself?”

To consecrate means to set something apart for God. And the Hebrew phrase behind that word is a picture. Literally, it's “to fill his hand.” It's the same kind of language used when priests were set apart for God's service. David is saying, “Who's going to put their hands in God's hands today?”

Before he asks for anything in their hands, he asks for their hands.

Paul says the same thing about the churches in Macedonia in 2 Corinthians 8. They were poor. They were under pressure. And they gave beyond what anybody expected. How? Verse 5 says they gave themselves first to the Lord.

That's why the card on your seat isn't really about the card. It's paper. It's a little bit of ink. What God is after is the yes behind it.

So before you write anything down this morning, there's a better question to ask first. Not “What can I afford?” but “Lord, am I Yours?” Because if the answer to that one is yes, the card gets a lot easier to fill out.

And don't miss the last word of verse 5. Today. Not someday. Not when it's convenient. Today. The time is now.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

2. BRING WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND

Verse 6 says the leaders went first, and they gave willingly. Then look at verse 8: “Whoever had precious stones gave them.”

Whoever had. Not everybody in that room had gold. Some people had stones. So they brought stones. Nobody was asked to bring what they didn't have. They were asked to bring what they did have.

That's what we've been saying for five weeks. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

Some of you can give something that would take somebody else a lifetime to save. Some of you will give something that looks small on paper but costs you something real. Heaven doesn't count the way we count.

In Mark 12, Jesus sat across from the temple treasury and watched people give. Rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow walked up and dropped in two tiny coins. And Jesus called His disciples over and told them she had put in more than everybody else. They gave out of what they had extra. She gave out of what she had to live on.

Jesus noticed the smallest gift in the room. He still does.

So let me talk to a few of you directly.

If God has trusted you with a lot, lead. Verse 9 says the people rejoiced because of their leaders' willingness to give. Your yes gives other people courage. Leadership gifts create momentum.

If you're a student, or you're just getting started, don't sit this out because your number is small. Your yes counts the same.

If money is tight right now, your card still counts. What someone who can't give right now should write on the card, e.g. “Praying.”

And if you've already given, already filled out a card at Advance Commitment Night, thank you. You went first. Today we get to finish this together.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

3. REMEMBER WHOSE IT IS

After the giving, David prays. And look at what the richest man in the room says.

Verse 14, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your own hand.”

And verse 16, “LORD our God, all this wealth that we've provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand; everything belongs to you.”

Nobody walks up to God with something God didn't give them first.

Every parent knows this one. Your kid comes running in on your birthday with a gift, so proud, and you know exactly whose money paid for it. But you don't say, “Well, technically that's mine.” You're just glad they wanted to give you something.

That's us with God. It was His before it was ours. That's what we said in week two. We're not acquiring something. We're stewarding an inheritance.

And this truth sets two different people free.

If you're able to give a lot, there's no room for pride. It came from His hand.

If you can only give a little, there's no room for shame. It came from His hand too.

Then David says in verse 15 that our days on earth are like a shadow. We're not here forever. None of us. But what we put into God's hands outlasts us.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

4. GIVE TOGETHER

Here's my favorite line in the whole chapter. Verse 17, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and that you are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to you.”

Look at what David celebrates. Not the total. He says, “I have seen your people.” Present here. Giving joyfully. Giving willingly.

That's what we're praying for this morning. Not a big total. A full room.

And verse 20 says the whole assembly praised the LORD God of their ancestors. The whole assembly. Nobody watching from the back. Nobody sitting it out.

When a whole church says yes together, it does something no single gift can do. It tells our city that we're here to stay. And it tells our kids who we are.

Look at verse 19. David prays for his son. “Give my son Solomon an undivided heart.” David knew the building was never the whole point. The point was a next generation that loved God with their whole heart.

That's where we started five weeks ago. Psalm 78. Tell the next generation. And I said this on week one, and I believe it even more today. Maybe one of the greatest things we can give the next generation isn't simply what we leave behind for them. Maybe it's what they watched us believe God for.

So parents, when you walk your card forward this morning, bring your kids with you. Let them hold it. Let them drop it in the basket. Let them see what our family does.

We pray. We serve. We give. We show up. We follow Jesus. That's who we are.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

THE ONE WHO GAVE EVERYTHING

In the middle of his prayer, David says this in verse 11. “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to you. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom.”

David knew the house was never the point. God was.

And here's what David couldn't see yet. About a thousand years later, his greatest Son would walk into that same city and say about His own body, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” Jesus was the place where God would meet His people.

And Jesus didn't give out of His extra. He gave everything. His body was broken. His blood was poured out. He died for our sin, and He rose from the grave.

Before we offered God anything, He offered Himself. That's where all of our generosity comes from. We give because He gave.

Invitation:

If you're visiting with us today, I want you to hear me. This isn't your Sunday to give. Your step today is Jesus.

If you want to make a decision to follow Jesus, then join me and everyone else in the building as we pray out loud together. It's not the prayer that saves you, but your faith, making Jesus Lord of your life. We don't let anyone go on the journey alone. If you have faith in Jesus, then let's join together as we pray…

Prayer of Salvation:

Jesus, I acknowledge that I need you

I confess that I have sinned against you

I believe that God raised you from the dead

And right now, by faith, I say “Jesus is Lord”

Thank you for forgiving me

By your grace I am saved

And by your power I am set free

RESPONSE: EVERY ONE OF US

In a moment the band is going to start playing, and I want you to know exactly what's happening and why.

You are not coming forward to impress anybody. Nobody is looking at what you wrote.

You're coming to do what David's people did. You're coming to put your hands in God's hands and say, “It's all Yours. If You say so.”

If you've prayed about your two numbers and you know your yes, fill out your card and bring it to one of the baskets.

If you're married, fill it out together. If you have kids, bring them with you.

If you already turned in a card at Advance Commitment Night, come forward anyway. Stand with us and pray over these baskets.

If you're not ready yet, that's okay. Take the card home. Pray. Talk it through. Bring it back by November 1, our Celebration Sunday. Let today be a “not yet,” not a “no.”

And if you're struggling to buy food or keep your housing right now, your step is different. Let us care for you. Tell us today.

Church, let's see it. Every one of us.

Everybody has a part. Not equal gifts. Equal obedience.

Closing Prayer Over the Baskets:

God, everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. Thank You for this church. Thank You for every yes in these baskets. Keep this desire in the hearts of Your people, and give the next generation an undivided heart for You. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. In Jesus' name, amen.